THE FOUR SEASONS

The myth of Persephone

Persephone was her

only daughter and

goddess Demeter loved

her very much.

Demeter was the goddess

of harvest and nature and

changed the seasons of the

year.

One day Persephone

was picking flowers

and she saw a beautiful

flower.

When she tried to cut it, the earth opened, Pluto got out ,grabbed her and took her with him in Hades.

In vain, Persephone was

calling her mother from

the underworld.

She was the queen of

Hades but she was

unhappy.

Her mother, Demeter was looking for her for 9 days

and 9 nights.

She asked for help from the

sun. The sun felt pity for her

and told her what had

happened.

Then Demeter started wandering around the Earth and

wherever she was, the plants began to die. People had

nothing to eat.

Then Zeus decided

that Persephone

should return to her

mother.

He sent Hermes to Hades

to bring Persephone back to

earth.

Hermes brought Persephone back to earth . When

Demeter saw her daughter, nature flourished again.

But Persephone had eaten

seeds from the food of

the dead, the

pomegranate.

She had to stay in Hades

for six months because

she had she eaten six

seeds.

Since then, when

mother and daughter

live together, nature is

happy. It is the time of

Spring and Summer.

When the daughter returns

to Hades, the nature is

sad. It is the time of

Autumn and Winter.

This is how Ancient Greeks explained the four seasons

of the year.

The Swallow song (chelidonismata)

On the 1st of March sing on the streets and welcome

the swallows. This custom comes from the

antiquity.

The coming of Spring-Customs

They hold swallows with bells tied on their necks. They

walk from house to house, singing the “Swallow song”

and ringing the swallows’ bells.

On the first day of March,

everybody wears a bracelet

called “marti”, made up of red

and white thread.

According to the tradition, it

protects their faces from the sun.

They get this bracelet out of their hands at the end of

the month and hang it on the tree leaves so that the

birds take it and build their nests.